There's an adage that goes, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." But that certainly doesn't seem to be the case with grizzled gangsta vet Snoop Dogg.

Less than one month ago, the Big Boss Dogg became a peacemaker of sorts, holding a "hip-hop peace summit" aimed at putting his long-standing beefs to bed and promoting a new era of unity among West Coast rappers (see "Snoop Dogg Holds Summit To Squash Beefs, Unify West Coast"). He then turned his attention east ... way east.

Snoop has set his eyes on a collaboration with some of Scotland's finest — and he's not talking about some clan of rough-and-tumble Glaswegian MCs, but rather the Dior-sporting, guitar-wielding gents in Franz Ferdinand.

It actually started back in February, when Snoop performed at the Carling Academy in Glasgow. Wowed by the enthusiastic response he received onstage, he told reporters that he was planning an album featuring talent from across Europe, adding, "I want to do something with the people that sang 'Take Me Out,' " a reference, of course, to Franz's hit single. Apparently, Franz frontman Alex Kapranos, OG that he is, was equally keen on hooking up with Snoop, expressing his admiration for the rapper via a posting on FranzFerdinand.co.uk.

"Someone told me that the guy who does 'Drop It Like It's Hot' wants to collaborate with us. That's great. I love that song and like his style," Kapranos wrote. "That U.S. hip-hop scene is cool. I love the boldness of it — makes so many bands sound timid in comparison.

"They take their melodies and turn them up loud: the best production approach. Too many white-guy indie bands have great tunes ruined by 'tasteful' production," he continued, "where the producer wants to show off to his hi-fi pals and fill every frequency with washy swoosh noises. If it's not part of the tune, don't put it in."

Neither camp returned phone calls regarding the still-hypothetical collaboration, but Snoop has just been confirmed to headline Scotland's T in the Park festival on July 10, and Franz Ferdinand are holed up in the Scottish countryside working on their second album (see "Bowie, Dylan, Scottish Countryside Influence New Franz Ferdinand LP"), so maybe this unusual team can put something on wax.